Strange Overtones
by atlas aire
Summary: -After Apocalypse- “We're in a fight for our principles and our first responsibility is to live by them.” Consider this a tale of how they find out what those principles are and how they stand by them.
1. StandIn

**S t r a n g e O v e r t o n e s**

Chapter One: Stand-In

* * *

_There are many ways to protect yourself._

New York was incredibly hot during the summer. July seemed to be the hottest month, before it shifted into fall. And with the Brotherhood not having any money, there was was no possible way to cool down. They had tried various methods. They stole a fan a few air conditioners, but with them not paying the electric bill, that plan didn't work. Then they tried getting ice, but the ice eventually melted. They needed something long-term.

It was Lance who said that they needed to get jobs. Fred was all for it. There were things he could do to get a job, and as long as he kept some of the money, he would be more than willing to put in his share. Wanda had agreed but on the grounds that she got proper help finding the job. She had no experience in such things. Pietro and Toad were the only ones who dissented, but they were outvoted.

It took a few months for everyone to get jobs, but eventually, they did. Lance found employment at a small delivery place. The owner there payed him to deliver packages to random areas around New York. Wanda was lucky enough to be with Lance on the day he was hired, she ended up being referred to a place in New York. It was a café, and since the owner was a bit taken by Wanda, she became a waitress there.

Fred did various odd jobs. From babysitting to hired muscle, Fred was never left without a job. Without a doubt, he became the top earner in the Brotherhood. Pietro never revealed what job he had, he made money and as long as they never got arrested, they didn't care about the source of his income. Todd being the odd one out, ending up delivering papers.

It was six moths after Apocalypse and the Brotherhood were proud to say that they were doing well. Without the help of Magneto, the X-Men or Mystique.

Lance was the only source of information about the X-men but after a rather nasty breakup with Kitty, they really heard nothing from them. And as they were living a generally okay life, they didn't care.

Considering the relationship between the Maximoff twins and Magneto, it was a slight surprise that he did even consider to contact them on the behalf of their well being. But he was planning big things with his Acolytes and the twins were more than happy to stay of his way.

They slipped into their own routines without complaint. They did their work and shared their fair amount. They simply lived together.

_They were okay._

**OoOoO**

Wanda sat on the passenger seat of the jeep, observing the scenery as it whirled pass her eyes. Lance was dropping her off at her job today. The sounds of old 80's rock music blared through the radio as they headed for the city. It wasn't her brand of music but it did fill the silence.

Wanda reached to the backseat to grab her bag as Lance parked behind the café's building. She unbuckled her seat-belt and left his jeep. She turned and saw Lance studying her. She gave him a curious look and Lance shook his head.

"Are you gonna need a ride?" Lance looked at her expectantly.

He asked this question every time. Wanda gave him the usual response, a nod.

"Alright," he nodded back as he shifted gears, "I'll be here at nine."

Wanda waited until Lance's car left the tiny parking lot before going inside.

As much as she would try to deny it, Wanda loved her job. There was a kind of different atmosphere here. It was a type of place that Wanda loved to be in. It kept her distracted, and centered.

When Wanda finished changing into uniform, she clocked in and went up from to start her shift. When she went to the counter to start, she was surprised to see a tall blonde working the register.

"Where's Julia?"

The blond turned to face her and Wanda took in her features. An estimate of twenty at the youngest, blue eyes and a disarming smile. Wanda was having none of that. If this woman was going to take over Julia's job, not only would Wanda be out of a friend, she'd be out of a lot of money. The majority of her income came from tips. This girl was damn fine, so all of the attention that was originally on Wanda would transfer to her. The woman's smile grew larger.

"I'm Emma Frost," she introduced herself, holding her hand out, "I'm taking over for Julia today."

Wanda narrowed her eyes, still suspicious, but as long as she wasn't taking over her co-worker's job, then she was okay.

"What happened to her," she asked, ignoring her outstretched hand to weave her way around her to go on the other side of the counter. Emma shrugged.

"She told me that a guy gave her daisy's."

Wanda let out a small hum in amusement. Julia was allergic to all types of nature.

"Guess you're gonna be with me until Julia gets better," Wanda said, none to pleasantly. Emma, catching her tone replied in kind.

"I guess so."

**OoOoO**

It was a relatively slow day for the two. A few regulars came, grabbed coffee then left. No newcomers, not even people "just wanting to use the bathroom." Slow day.

Right now, Wanda had decided to take a break and just relax. She sat at one of the booths, drinking coffee and reading a small booklet on Algebra. She was the only one who didn't go to high school and though the thought of it appealed to her (to her brother's horror), Lance's suggestion of getting her GED was better.

She doubted that she would ever have a chance to do great things, like her father or the people at the Xavier Institute, but she did have a right to be educated. And if there was ever a chance to leave the Brotherhood, just a tiny chance, Wanda wanted to make sure she took it and increased her odds of reaching her goal.

She was skimming the section on polynomials when she saw silver flats flash her from the corner of her eyes. Emma. She kept her eyes on the booklet, trying her best to concentrate. But as the blond sat down across from her on the booth, Wanda couldn't help but draw her eyes up to meet Emma's.

"Look," she started, voice stern, "I'm trying to study so unless you have something important to say, either shut up or leave."

_Rude._

It was Emma's voice, clear as day in her head. Wanda blinked, surprised then narrowed her eyes, not saying anything out loud or in her mind.

_I take it by your reaction that your not the least bit surprised that I'm a telepath._ Her voice again, with that Boston accent, was very sarcastic. Wanda frowned. The thought of someone in her head bothered her to no end. She may be a mutant, and she may be exposed to various types powers, but that didn't mean that she would have to be accustomed to it.

_You know, it's a bit insulting to be turned away by your own kind._ Wanda's eyebrows furrowed in restrained anger. Bitch was amused by this!

"Get out of my head," she told Emma. Emma, not surprised by her reaction, pulled back, mentally and physically. Now Emma had her back against the cushions, looking every bit as relaxed as she may feel.

"What do you want?"

"Me? Well I want to be able to not have you glare at me like that."

Wanda could see their boss at the counter, writing something in his little notebook.

"Well, when you have somebody _in your head_, it's pretty hard _not _to glare." Wanda clenched her fist and set her booklet down. Obviously, Emma didn't understand how much she didn't like people in her head. And obviously, she didn't understand just what she was capable of.

Emma blinked. Then a sudden look of realization crossed her face, before it turned to understanding. Emma looked away, guilty.

"I'm sorry. I didn't--" she stopped herself then continued again, "I'm not completely use to actually talking to mutants. You'd be the second one I've met. Ever."

Wanda studied the woman, very sure that she was lying, but she had her eyes lowered and that frown on her face, and her overall body language spoke of the guilt she must have been feel. Seeing her guilty made Wanda guilty. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair, embarrassed and frustrated.

"S'alright. Just please, stay out of my head."

Emma bit her lip, then nodded.

"As a way of apology, can I take you out?"

Wanda's eyebrows rose at the question until Emma's did the same and the now flustered woman shook her head.

"No. No, not like that. I'm not like that. I meant, 'can we get out of here and eat something else aside from bread?'" She looked at Wanda with a sheepish smile, "I'll pay."

Wanda smiled, relaxed and nodded her head. The two pulled out of the booth and told their boss that they'd be back. He nodded his acceptance with a knowing smile on his face. With that, the two girls headed out for lunch.

**OoOoO**

"Mental shields," Wanda repeated, curious.

"Yes. Anybody develop them, and they are great for those who try to attack you through the mind," Emma gave Wanda a meaningful look, before continuing, "It will be only one session. And I won't do anything you don't want me to."

Wanda hesitated, staring down at her plate of salad before turning her gaze outside to the people of New York. Anybody would be able to alter her mind, control her, without her knowing or being able to fight back. The thought sent a dark shiver through her. She looked at Emma, who seemed very patient with her, then nodded her head. Consent.

"Alright, when do we start?"

**OoOoO**

Wanda knew that what she saw before her wasn't real. That they were really outside, sitting on the back steps of the café's building waiting for Lance to pick her up. That these red skies weren't real, that the ground shouldn't have looked the clean, like metal. She knew that the outfit she donned now, the red tights, red tank top and red long sleeved mesh shirt and high heeled boots was simply what her mind wished her to wear. Because she knew for a damn fact that she would never wear a cape in real life, like she was now.

She saw Emma floating above her surrounded in a thin white aura patiently waiting for Wanda to take in her surroundings. Emma wore a white suit. The blazer she had was cut to show her toned stomach and instead of heels, she was wearing boots. The low ponytail that Wanda saw on her when they first met was taken down, and her platinum blond locks flowed freely about her. Wanda looked at Emma, curious.

"Where are we?"

"Your mind, dear," she answered, gesturing at the beautiful expanse. There was strange shimmers of fog and smoke surrounding them, different shades of red, white and black. It didn't hinder their sight, as Wanda could clearly see Emma smiling at her.

"So where do we go?"

Emma grinned, "Up."

Wanda looked up at the sky, squinting to see anything that would tell her where to go. She saw it, the sun. It was bright. Rainbow coloured and just brilliant. Wanda frowned; she couldn't fly.

"Make stairs then," Emma said, lowering herself so she wasn't so high above Wanda.

Wanda held her hands out and concentrated. She visualized thin platforms leading from her feet to that orb. She closed her eyes and held her hands out. When she opened them, the stairs were there. Glassy, red stairs. Wanda ran up the stairs as Wanda floated beside her.

They reached the top and Wanda looked at Emma, expectantly. Emma's expression took Wanda off guard. She seemed a bit... troubled, to say the least.

"Emma?"

She reached out to the orb and tapped the empty space around it. Or at least it looked empty. A piece of the orb fell off, revealing a smaller more radiant orb inside. Emma used both hands now to open the orb. It was working but Emma seemed to be struggling.

"Quick, Wanda. Get the light."

Doing as instructed, she reached pass Emma and took the orb, cradling it in her hands. It was warm and familiar and it was waiting for her. Emma pulled away from the rainbow ball and it fell to the ground, breaking apart. The light in Wanda's hands continued to illuminate the terrain, shifting the darker red black and white smoke it lighter shades.

"I believe that this may be the real portal to your mind," Emma said, "brilliant."

"What do we do now?"

"We create something to hide and protect it."

**OoOoO**

Wanda was still a bit dazed when she saw Lance's jeep drive into the parking lot. She shook her head when she realized that Emma was talking.

"What?"

"Your mental shields should stay up. When a real threat comes to attack, you should have some method of defense before you take them out externally."

Wanda smiled a bit as she stood up, taking her bag with her. Emma stood up as well.

"I don't know why anybody would want to attack me now."

"Can't hurt to be safe." Emma shrugged.

Lance honked on the horn for Wanda to hurry. Wanda frowned, giving him the 'one minute' signal. She ignored the exasperated look on Lance's face.

"Thank you," Wanda said, looking meaningfully into Emma's eyes, "you didn't have to do that."

"I did," she said, voice soft. Wanda shrugged, a way of her saying it wasn't that big of a deal. She started to walk over to Lance's car.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

The words were soft, near quite, but Wanda heard them.

"I hope so."

* * *

**A/N:** The summary is actually a quote from former president George Bush. No lie. Points to the person who knows when he said it. That quote has a very big role in this story, so don't forget first part, concerning the Brotherhood was going to be the prologue. But then I thought it sounded better in this chapter alone. My reason for choosing the Brotherhood to go in this direction was because in the show, they honestly didn't seem to care about mutant-human relations. Especially towards the end of the show, where they were kind of treated as a wild card. So I'm guessing that After the big bad from the series finale, Magneto up and ditched them while the X-Men don't know (or care) about what's going on with the Brotherhood. Dunno about Mystique. I figured she stopped giving funds a _long_ time ago. As for Emma's place in this story. A big hint is shown in the chapter's title, depending on how you interpret it.

**Disclaimer:** The characters in X-Men: Evolution (and other Marvel characters used in this fic) is property of Marvel and I'm not profiting in any way from this story. I actually have no income coming in period.


	2. Incentive

**S t r a n g e O v e r t o n e s**

Chapter Two: Incentive

* * *

_Nobody ever did, or ever will, escape the consequences of his choices._

At the moment, Gambit was on standby. The Guild didn't need him right now and Magneto was away, planning. So that made Gambit extremely restless. He did things to keep himself distracted. Worked out, played solitaire, fucked around with the other Acolytes. But eventually, it all got old. And that left him with enough time to just think.

He didn't want to just think.

Magneto had given them a lot of freedom to roam their headquarters which right now was just a big metal dome. The Guild had sold his services to Gambit with them having the freedom to take him when an emergency came. It depressed him to think that nothing bad was happening to his family right now.

With such an event as Apocalypse, Remy was hoping for more action. But a month after the event, the news stopped caring about the mutants. Then Kelly reemerged. The ex-principal was elected senator. Initially, mutants freaked. Panicked even. But when three months passed and nothing newsworthy came to light, people calmed. That didn't mean people didn't have their worries.

Remy was positive that something big was about to go down soon, he just didn't know what. And as interesting as he was sure it would be, Remy was positive that this was something he wasn't going to live through. Not if he stayed by Magneto's side.

So he had been plotting escape. He didn't trust Magneto well enough to record his thoughts down, but he did plot. But with everyone idea meant that he needed to get others to join him. He knew Pyro would be up for it. But with the type of leverage Magneto had on Colossus, Remy wasn't sure if he'd get assistance from the Russian. Sabertooth, for the chance to get out, would help. The big cat was getting all types of restless from being cooped up there.

Magneto went out of his room and floated to the kitchen.

Remy was at the secretly screen with John. He was following the man as he went in and took a bottle of water. The Aussie shifted his gaze to the Cajun, his eyes screaming mischief. Remy grinned.

Now or never.

**OoOoO**

Sabertooth was miles ahead of the men, leaping from tree to tree to get away from the enraged mutant. Colossus wasn't in his metallic form and he was running fast, weaving his bulky body swiftly through the trees to avoid being seen or caught. Gambit heard the swish of something swerving towards them and he took the risk to look behind him. A huge piece of metal came for them now. The Cajun reached out and grabbed John, and jerked them both out of the way. The blade metal barely grazed them. Piotr glanced back and Remy continued to push forward.

"Go to the X-Men," Remy shouted at the Russian, "tell them of your situation."

"I cannot have them involved in this," he shouted back, "they may get hurt!"

The man really wasn't suited for a life like this.

"They been trained fo' this," he hissed, they were reaching a cliff, "they can help you!"

"And you two?"

Remy pulled out a deck of cards and charged them.

"Well make it," he told him, throwing the cards behind him. The sound of them hitting metal and wood made him smile.

"We'll be seein' ya," shouted John to Piotr, "don't worry! She'll be apples."

Then the two men leaped off the cliff as the Russian followed Sabertooth to a nearby city. Remy hoped to whatever deity up there that they would be okay.

**OoOoO**

Remy and John safety in cave out by the lake nearby the base. The adrenaline was rushed right out of the man, but his instincts were still there. The two pushed themselves as far back as they could in the small cave, avoiding all light and they kept themselves silent. Magneto would be lurking about for a while.

Remy kept his eyes closed as he thought of his next plan. He would first have to find a place to hide John. As Pyro, it cost Magneto a lot of money to pay for the gas for his flamethrower but Remy knew for a fact that Magneto wouldn't hesitate in killing the poor guy, given the opportunity. Remy wouldn't be able to protect him.

He couldn't take John to the X-Men. Piotr was the only one that had a clean record before Magneto, so he could be backed up by them, he was a good guy; John's record rivaled Remy's.

He bit hiss lip and shifted to get comfortable. They were going to wait until nightfall to move.

The Brotherhood was a good bet. They were small enough to not be noticed if somebody else tried looking for John and if he could properly convince them to keep quiet, then it was very possible that John would be safe.

"Bien," he whispered. The word softly echoed throughout the small cave.

**OoOoO**

Remy noticed that John had been very quiet the whole trip. He nodded when Remy told him of his plans, he smiled when they lied to that elderly couple so they could get a place to stay for the night. Even now, as they were walking through the small forest to the Brotherhood home, the man was silent.

Remy stopped and John stopped too. The Aussie turned to look a Remy, a question in his eyes.

Remy wished he knew what to tell him so he could stop acting like this. Something he could do to make his friend normal again.

He held in the sigh he wanted to release and started walking. John followed.

When they actually made it to the Brotherhood house, Avalanche and the Scarlet Witch were outside. Wanda sat on the steps with a slightly distant look on her face while Lance spent time working on his car. Remy cleared his throat to get their attention.

Lance came out from under the hood and glared at Remy, wanting to attack but seemed to remember what happened the last time. Wanda didn't bat an eye.

"Bonjour," he greeted, giving the man a grin. Alvers scowled.

"What do you want?"

"Your help," he replied, nodded his heat to John who was now sitting at Wanda's feet, watching the exchange with an unreadable expression.

"Help," Alvers repeated.

"Oui," Remy said.

Lance looked over at John then back to Remy before he realized what was being asked of him.

"No."

"Sil vous plait? It's only John."

"What," Lance sarcastic replied, crossing his arms, "you don't want join us?"

Remy shrugged, biting his tongue to keep from saying 'got better places to be than here'. Diplomacy wins in a situation like this, he reminded himself. They have every right to say no.

"We decided to split up," Remy said instead.

"No."

"He'll help out, pay his share."

"No."

"Why not?"

All men turned to Wanda when she spoke. Her eyes were clear and she was staring at Lance.

"Why not," she repeated, "I can take Mystique's room and he'll take mine."

Lance's eyebrows furrowed, obviously wanting to disagree. He sighed.

"We need the money," Wanda said, softly, "I don't trust Pietro when he says 'we won't get arrested'. 'Cause we usually do."

Lance's shoulder's slumped. Wanda almost smiled.

"Go inside and give John a tour," she instructed, standing up. John stood as well then the two men went inside, leaving Wanda and Remy outside.

"Look cher," Remy started, "I can't thank ya enough--"

"Then don't," she interrupted, smiling. Remy blinked, struck silent for once.

"As long as he's here, he'll be protected," she told him. He wondered if he knew about their situation. He also felt a small amount of guilt, knowing full well that she wouldn't be this nice if she knew that he aided in her mind-wipe.

"Merci," he said, reaching over and lightly brushing her bangs. They were longer last he checked. She reached up and softly took his hand. Warning bells went off, this was the boss's daughter, before he shut them down. Magneto wasn't his boss anymore.

"Just... just come back to collect your friend." She was looking up at him with unbelievably blue eyes. They were bright and vibrant, full of emotion. Remy planted a soft kiss on her forehead before drawing away.

"I will," he promised, walking away.

The last thing he saw before disappearing in the forest was Wanda's blue eyes. He thought that might have been what Magneto's eyes would look like, were he not the man he was now.

**OoOoO**

It was nighttime when Remy snuck onto the X-Men's home. He saw a familiar face, resting against a tree, staring at the moon. Rogue. She was without make up and those brilliant green eyes were bright. Remy was struck by the sad look on her face. It spoke of yearning and fear, two things he did know of. He almost went to her, wanting to be the one to bring a smile to her face, but he wasn't here for her.

He ran to the other side and hoped that his friend was outside, they needed to talk.

As luck would have it, he was.

The Russian was relaxing many feet away from the mansion. There were many sketchbooks scattered about him, as well as art utensils. The training he received was still in him, Remy noted, as the Russian turned his head to Remy with a smile.

"I was beginning to think that Magneto had gotten you," he said, relief making his accent a bit thicker.

"Nah, mon ami. I'm alive." He sat next to Piotr and they both had a moment of comfortable silence.

"Your family," Remy asked, "they okay?"

The big man's head lowered in sadness.

"I... I do not know. Xavier's machine was designed to locate mutants... and when we went to their home... nothing was there."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing. Their clothes, pictures, food – everything. It's gone."

"That could mean a number of things."

"It could, but we have no way of finding just what they are," Piotr said, looking at Remy meaningfully.

Remy looked away, not knowing what to say to comfort his friend.

"You should join us," Piotr told Remy. The Cajun shook his head.

"Can't," he whispered, "have a few things to do and I can't be part of a team like this to do them."

"Then I hope I do see you again," he replied, voice just as soft. Remy stood up and nodded at Piotr before walking away.

"Hope so too, mon ami."

**OoOoO**

Remy didn't get a chance to go his safe-house. He was intercepted by a group of strange mutants. One was a blonde woman, very beautiful, dressed in all black. Another woman, also blonde, younger and dressed in white. A man, probably the same age as the young blonde, African American, dressed in all black. And another man, Asian in appearance, dressed in a gray suit.

Remy drew out a card, charging it, ready to attack. The older blonde reached out a hand, trying to halt his actions.

"Now that's not necessary," she said, "you haven't even heard what we have to say."

"Don' need to," he replied back, but he uncharged his card and started walking in the opposite direction of them. He didn't go that far, the young dude was right in front of him the second he took another step.

"Rude," the woman said from behind him.

"What do you want," Remy spat out, glaring at the man in front of him. He wasn't about to be intimidated by a man who should still be in high school. The other blonde was silent until now.

"We just want to talk," she said, "I'm Tandy."

"Delighted," he shot sarcastically. The unnamed blonde put him on full alert with her next question.

"Have you ever heard of a man named Nathaniel Essex?"

* * *

**A/N:** Lordy, this was a hard one to write. Remy is a hard person to write, imo. And the people downstairs are playing their horrible music to unbearable levels. That was kinda distracting. And these fuckers are still playing their music! _SHUT UP._

Anyway this chapter was hard to write because I wanted to do this from a different perspective originally. But like, half way through I was like "y'know, this sounds better from Remy's perspective." And then I rewrote everything. Yeah. I'm a spaz. This chapter has more foreshadowing than the last, which was my goal. A big hint for what's gonna happen to Remy is the very first sentence (in italics, it's a quote by Alfred A. Montapert) and the chapter title, again, depending on how you interpret it.


	3. To Chose

**S t r a n g e O v e r t o n e s**

Chapter Three: To Chose

* * *

_"I was not the one to invent lies: they were created in a society divided by class and each of us inherited lies when we were born."_

Jubilation Lee was finally allowed to rejoin the X-Men.

Granted, it was only for the summer, because her adopted parents were worried that another incident like the last one would happen if she went again (thus the trial period), but Jubilee was excited anyway. Letters from Bobby told her that the majority of the New Mutants had been brought home. Bobby had gotten to stay, as well as Berzerker, Dani, Cannonball and Multiple. Roberto would be coming when the school year started, as Amara. But Tabby had run off after the events of Apocalypse, and there was no chance that Rahne would even get to join the X-Men. Ever.

It was going to be sad to never get the chance to Rahne, and it was going to so lame being the only female out of the New Mutants, but she wasn't going to complain.

The day before she had to leave, Jubilee decided to go to the mall. She had set up an appointment with a lady at a hair-shop there, and she was about to be late. Jubilee like this particular hairstylist, she was a very loyal one that wasn't scissor happy. And she knew she was a mutant.

When Jubilee arrived at the shop, out of breath and sweating a bit, she was greeted by her stylist.

"Hey Jubes, you're late."

Jubilee let herself be led to a chair as she replied back.

"I know, Heidi. My parents were giving me a lecture on what I can't do when I get to the mansion."

Heidi laughed and started tending to her hair.

"So you're really leaving, huh?"

Jubilee smiled to Heidi through the mirror.

"It's only for the summer. So, you'll see me again."

Heidi fanned Jubilee's hair all throughout and then started brushing. It was what she did every time she did her hair, so they would have more time to talk. The owner always got angry when Jubilee tried to stay longer than necessary to have small talk. Heidi took a brush and started talking.

"When you get there," she said, "tell your professor about the registration act."

Jubilee saw her own confused face on the mirror.

"Registration act?"

"Yeah, the law passed all through the US last night. All mutants are suppose to go to these clinics and register their powers and stuff, I guess so they know who to go after when someone does a crime or something."

"What happens if you don't register?"

"They arrest you. What they do to you after that I don't know."

Jubilee frowned and for the first time in a very long time, Jubilee felt a big feeling of doom. Like something big was going to happen, something bigger than Apocalypse, and with long term effects. She locked eyes with Heidi's reflection and tried to give her a comforting a smile; no use in making her worried too.

"Ready to say goodbye to my wonderful hair?"

**OoOoO**

Jubilee had her hair at least at shoulder length since she was a baby. Now that her hair didn't even reach her head was simply... different. Her head felt lighter, that's for sure.

She was walking home, running her hands through her hair when she saw something move from the corner of her eye. She was close to her neighborhood at the afternoon and she was a bit surprised to see that there wasn't that many people outside. She heard more noise on her right and this time, she made the decision to investigate.

Whether she lived with them or not, she was still an X-Man, and that noise might be someone in trouble.

She weaved her way through a few alleys before coming upon the source of the noise. She jumped back and crouched down, to carefully observe. A young black man, adorned with white tattoos all over his body, was backed into a corner. The assailant wasn't in her line of vision, but Jubilee could recognize the man from the silhouette of his shadow alone.

Magneto.

"No," the man pleaded, "I.. can't."

From the shadows, came Magneto. He had a hand reaching out to the man. The sheer aura of the man made Jubilee back away a bit. Granted, she this would be the only time she would have even been near Magneto, she had heard stories. And she did see him on the news. The one thing that humans and mutants alike agreed on was Magneto.

He was powerful.

"Now, my dear boy," he said, "I am only asking for your assistance. This is an opportunity of a lifetime, not just for you, but all mutants."

The man turned away, looking for a way to escape, and Magneto let him. Something told Jubilee that if he wanted to keep him trapped, he would. She stare on curiously. So far, he was doing anything bad nor threatening. She bit her lip, wanting to help the man escape but wanting to hear more about this 'opportunity of a lifetime.'

Magneto's feet touched the ground and walked toward the man, talking off his helmet.

"There will be a chance for salvation for all mutants, a place where they can avoid prosecution. A place they can call home. A place _you _can call home."

The man still shook his head, fear lacing his actions. Jubilee wondered if it was because of Magneto himself, or what his words were implying.

"But you ask me to..."

"I ask you to help us, boy. To help liberate the minds of millions of enslaved mutants, by any means necessary."

Magneto didn't move any closer, nor did he pull away. He simply stayed at a respectable distance, so he could make up his mind on his own. Jubilee on the other hand, already did. As vague as his description was, Magneto's plan for whatever sounded interesting. The Professor was a man of peace, and Jubilee could respect that, Magneto was a man of action. And that was exactly what she wanted right now. She wished there was a way to joined up with him.

The man in the corner finally moved, and both Magneto and Jubilee waited for his answer.

He nodded, with a bit of resignation. Magneto laid a hand on his shoulder.

"You made the right choice. Now I wonder, what will yours be?"

It took a second for Jubilee to realize that the man was talking to her. Shocked, she stumbled back, falling out of the crouch and landing on her butt. Magneto turned to her and started walking towards her. The man seemed to glide though, as he neared her, and an irrational surge of fear ran through her.

Magneto's eyes were gentle as he acknowledged her, piercing blue eyes looking down at her with slight amusement. Jubilee stared back and opened her mouth, trying to speak, but no words would come.

Magneto remained patient and he held a hand out to her, in what Jubilee realized was a his way of questioning her again. Jubilee took a quick glance at the man behind her; he was looking up at the sky with a bit of a dazed look on his face. She looked back at Magneto, then his hand.

Then she took it.

**OoOoO**

It took a month for Jubilee to stop feeling guilty about not staying with Xavier. Another month to not feel guilty about not calling her parents to tell them that she was okay. But Magneto had convinced her that the X-Men would try to 'save her'. And that her parents would be more worried if they found out that she was with him, and that that was a guilt she would never be able to handle. It took her a second for Jubilee to understand the logic in his reasoning.

It took her a week to get use to Magneto's base. It was giant area in the middle of the woods, surrounded by metal. The other people there had wooden homes thanks to mutant with an ability to manipulate the elements. She had gotten to stay in a bigger house made by Magneto. He used it for a base, training area and resting area. There were a few other mutants that stayed there as well, and with the exception of the man that she had encountered on that first day she had met Magneto (who was referred to as Gentle, from then on) and a sweet lady named Astra, they all had ignored her. Not rudely, she knew; they did have better things to do.

For the whole time she was there, Jubilee was afraid to ask Magneto about his plans, figuring that when the time would come, she would know. Instead, she spent that time honing her skills. Astra had taught her martial arts moves, and Gentle had let her use her powers on him. His inability to feel touch, made him a perfect test subject for Jubilee's fireworks.

Five months in, Jubilee started calling Magneto Erik.

Six months in, she found that the tattoos on Gentle's body were to hold his powers back.

Seven months in, she started receiving lessons from Magneto on various subjects.

On month eight, Jubilee had demanded to know what Magneto had planned for her.

On the ninth month, he finally told her.

**OoOoO**

Jubilee was sneaking in another office, this time it was for information. The people at Senator Kelly's office must have information on what they did to the detained mutants, on where they were being taken. The last time she was here, she could only find pictures of mutants protesting the Mutant Registration Act. There was a picture of a man holding up a sign that said 'just say no.' Up to this day, that was her favorite photograph.

Astra was standing by being a lookout, ready to teleport her out when needed.

"I'm not finding anything here, Astra" Jubilee whispered to her partner, as she put the stuff back, "they're just letters from angry citizens."

Astra looked at Jubilee and went over to grab her hand. Their time must have been running out if she wasn't going to check over her work.

"Then I guess we're just going to have to come empty handed."

**OoOoO**

Jubilee went in again a month later. This time, they found something.

"Astra," she whispered, "these are files from Bolivar Trask."

Astra was by her side in an instant. Together they both copied and looked over the files from the vanilla coloured folders. Jubilee found herself horrified, but not surprised by the things revealed to her.

A summary of how things were going in a place called Genosha.

There were pictures of mutants being herded into big buildings, by how 'dis-formed' they looked. Pictures of inside the buildings showed the mutants being experimented on. They said that they were looking for a way to find the X-Gene in the pregnant people so they could eliminate it. They were finding ways to torture the mutants with their own power. Jubilee had to close her eyes for some of the pictures. She couldn't even read the notes. These were her people. They were mostly innocent, and they were... there weren't any words to describe it.

The babies had been killed on spot.

The mothers, examined then murdered.

The weak and the old had been next.

Jubilee was the one to deliver their findings to Magneto.

"What are we going to do, sir," she asked him, "how can we convince these people that this is real? People can just dehumanize a lot of things..."

Magneto's head was down, expression grim.

"I wish I knew, child," he muttered, "I wish I knew."

Both were quiet, each lost in their own thoughts.

"Can we free them?"

Magneto looked at her, expression unreadable.

"Can we free them," she repeated, "if we can save them, we can have them tell the people of what happened to them."

Magneto didn't respond, but he was thinking over what she said, possibly plotting out an attack method. Jubilee ran a hand through her hair. What she said made him smile.

"Sir, we're _honor bound_ to defend freedom."

**OoOoO**

"We declare our right on this earth to be a man, to be a woman, to be mutants, to get the same respect as human beings, to be given the same rights of a human being in this society, on this earth, in this day, which we intend to bring into existence _by any means necessary_."

It was with those words that the war on Genosha began.

* * *

**A/N: **You know, I hate using the term "African American". I don't know, people tell me it's more PC and that people who are of that race prefer being called that. I'm Black. I wanna be called black. It's weird for me to say African American. And what if the guy is Australian but looks black. Do you say "A man with African American features"? Or maybe it's personal for me, because I'm literally African American (1st generation immigrant; both of my parents are from different parts of Africa -- representin' yo). And what about those of other races? Would they prefer Asian American, Asian, or just American. White or Caucasian. Indian or Native American? Maybe I'm over thinking it?

Oh, baby this chapter. A lot of political references. Bonus points if you can figure out what I'm referencing. Especially for the last little bit of writing there. And this was a hard chapter to write. No lie. Because genocide is a touchy subject for me to even think about. I knew people who were descendants of people from the Holocaust, and I knew those in Africa and in Haiti who were being uselessly murdered. I even have family who were Native Americans... and their history is just as bad. Genocide and those prisoner of war camps... thoughts of those scare the living shit out of me. I guess that's why I feel for Magneto. He actually went through that, and I can see why he is doing what he is doing, they way he is doing it. If there was a way to prevent something like that from happening, the last thing I would want to do is talk about it to make sure I want to do this – I would just do it.

Dear me, I got all serious. I'm sorry. And double apologises for rambling.


	4. In This Light

**S t r a n g e O v e r t o n e s**

Chapter Four: In This Light

* * *

"_It is strong and you are tough; but a heart is not enough–"_

It was Lance that convinced them to go to a club. It wasn't like they were going to do anything special today. Or any other day, for that matter.

Wanda had let herself sit at one of the booths and John was nice enough to block her from Toad. She could see Pietro in the middle of the dance floor surrounded by women, dancing and enjoying himself. Fred was at another booth, being chatted up by a pretty good looking lady. Lance _was_ sitting across from Wanda, having a conversation with her. Wanda had saw him fidgeting a bit and she told him that she had no problems if he went outside for a bit to smoke.

She really didn't know what she was drinking, Lance had ordered it, told her that it was the type of drink that "did the job and didn't taste like shit". She laid her head on John's shoulder, nuzzling it a bit and closing her eyes, giving Lance credit for knowing his alcohol.

**OoOoO**

_She was in her room, waiting for Daddy to get off the phone. Pietro was sitting behind her, embracing her. She knew he was mad, her father. Really, she didn't mean to do it. She just got mad. And that man was going to hurt them. _

_"What's going to happen," she asked, afraid._

_"I don't know," Pietro whispered back, voice cracking a bit. The fact that he sounded just as afraid as her made Wanda worry even more. _

_It meant that he wouldn't be able to protect her._

**OoOoO**

When Wanda woke up, she found herself on someone else's bed. She knew she was still at the boarding house; she recognized those trees outside the window. She knew that there was a person laying next her, but who they were or whether they were awake, she didn't know. She was kind of afraid to check.

The room itself was pretty plain. No pictures, or decorations. On the window sill there was something carved onto it.

"_If you were a king up there on your throne, would you be wise enough to let me go?"_

So she was in her old room. Which meant that she was in John's room. Her clothes were still on, so that was a good sign. She turned to get a look at John. The man slept on his back, with his head turned to her. A hand was rested on his stomach, while the other was buried somewhere under the pillows. Wanda knew his body was going to ache from the awkward position.

She let her eyes drift up to his hair. The bright orange, blond, and reddish brown strands of hair, held her attention. His hair was out of it's usual spiked style but it still looked soft. She reached a hand up and lightly touched the tips. They felt soft. She started running her hands through it, petting him. She heard him swiftly take a breath, but he was still asleep. She wondered if all the colours were natural.

She let her hands drift down to his face, caressing his cheek. Soft skin, she noted. Her index finger traced his ear, and she could have sworn she saw him shiver. She licked her lips, a bit fascinated by his reaction. She index finger traced his ear again with a little more pressure, the reaction was the same, but stronger. Slowly, John started to stir. Wanda took that time to draw away from him. John arched up, stretching, and at the sound of his pleased sigh Wanda's brain stopped function properly.

John sat up and looked at Wanda, his dark blue eyes seemed to sparkle in the light. There was a different type of brightness that seemed to enter his eyes that she really didn't see before. Since he came here, John eyes were... dead. Wanda reached up and cupped his cheek, wanting that brightness to stay. If anything, it seemed to grow from the contact.

"Hey, Wanda, wake up!" It was Pietro, "Lance had to head out, so I'm taking you to work today, get ready."

Wanda remembered herself, and quickly drew away, muttering an apology. She hesitated, seeing John's eyes follow her; he was starting to guard himself again. She climbed off the bed and slowly made her way to the door, apologizing again. Something in her knew that he wouldn't be that open to her like that in a long time.

**OoOoO**

Pietro was running a bit slower for Wanda's benefit. There was a grin on her face as she felt the wind blew past her. She looked up at her brother from his arms and saw that he was grinning too. She really did love traveling this way. Something about being able past by some many things, so quickly, but to see everything... it was great. She wondered if this was what he felt when he used his powers.

When they reached her work, Pietro set her down and ruffled her hair a bit. Wanda smiled, it was an action that she let Pietro do when nobody was looking. She could see how much he loved doing it. In this light, Wanda could see how bright his eyes were, how happy he was to just be near her. She could also see bags forming under his eyes. She reached up to cup his face, her thumb running under his eye a bit. She wished she could ask him what he was doing to get his money, to pass his time, but she knew that she would get the same answer every time. And she wasn't willing to force the answer out of him.

"Are you picking me up," she asked softly, letting her hand drop to her side. The sound from the cars passing by drowned their words a bit.

"No," he replied, just as softly, "Lance again."

"Oh," she said, "okay."

She didn't know why she was disappointed, it wasn't like she saw him all the time, she should be use to her brother not being around. She took a step away from him, realizing that yes, she missed him being around a lot. Wanda bit her lip, she missed her brother.

"Hey." He was trying to make eye contact but Wanda's head was held low, "What's wrong? Wanda, what's wrong?"

She shook her head, trying to harden her outer features, she knew that it wasn't working. She really should get inside. She should get inside and stop acting weird. Stop freaking her brother out. Stop freaking _herself_ out.

Pietro drew close to her, hugging her.

"Dunno what's making you act like this," he spoke into her hair, "but I'm here for you. I'm always here for you. I'll protect you, Wanda."

She hugged him back, keeping her eyes shut.

_No... you can't protect me._

**OoOoO**

Today was a slow day. Julia was still sick and there was no-one filling in for her today. Her boss went out to get something for the both of them to eat. She smiled, thinking of her boss.

Victor.

A sweet understanding man. Sometimes he was a bit formal in the way he addressed her, but it would be weird to Wanda if he wasn't. His golden brown eyes were incredibly piercing, especially when he looked at her.

Wanda had the slight suspicion that Victor may be a mutant but after spending so much time with him at work, she dismissed that theory. Though she never used her powers that often in public, Victor seemed like the type that if he'd had them, he would have no problems using them.

Speak of the devil.

She saw Victor walk through the café's door with a few bags in his hands. Wanda smiled at him, curious as to what he brought.

"I bought Chinese," he answered her unspoken question, "and desert from the bakery nearby."

Victor set down the food on the counter in front of her and Wanda started taking out the food from the bags. Rice and sesame chicken in one carton, noodles in the other. There was two drinks, both she knew were filled with Sprite. Egg rolls in one bag, and chocolate croissants in the other. Wanda grinned, he did know what she liked.

Victor took a nearby stool and sat next to her. Both were now facing the door, looking at the empty café. It was the slowest day yet, but she honestly didn't mind. Business still came and today could be considered a day off.

"How was your day," she said in attempt of small talk. She grabbed a fork and stuck it through a piece of chicken. She as she ate it, she gave her eating companion an expectant look.

"It was good," he said, "I am starting up on a new project."

"Really?" She watched as Victor took a forkful of noodles and ate. She laughed when she saw him nod his head, still eating. Adorable.

"Yes," he answered, "it's really just blueprints right now... but I am hoping that when that is finished, building it shall be no problem."

"And what is it?"

Victor smiled, "I am hoping to create an observational unit that can withstand all sorts of attacks."

"Why is that?"

"I am hoping to submit this to some type of agency to that they may send it into space. If the observational device works as I have designed it, then we can probably send it into black holes."

Wanda was no scientist, but she was sure that this was a feat that just couldn't be done. Nobody knows what happens on the other side, or if anything would last long enough to make it to the other side. She looked at Victor. He always had these projects, these extraordinary projects that made Wanda believe that he could change the world if he finished them. Though, when she thought about it, she never really did find out if he finished any of his projects.

"That's..." Victor looked at her expectantly wanting to hear her opinion on his latest.

"Beyond amazing," she finished, looking him in the eyes. And it was. If he could finish this, Wanda knew that Victor would go down in history as one of the world greatest modern day scientist. Right beside Tony Stark.

Victor smiled, pleased with her response.

"How is your home life," he asked her.

"As good as expected," she replied back. She reached into the pastry box and took a chocolate croissant; Victor reached over and stole some chicken from her carton.

"Your brother?"

"I... I don't know."

Victor gave her a questioning look and she furrowed her eyebrows, wondering if she should really tell him all of this.

"He's up to something," she told Victor, "I don't know what it is, but I know he's up to something."

"What gives you that impression?"

Wanda sighed, conveying her feelings wasn't something she did often.

"He's really distracted," she started, "more than usual. He's always going somewhere. 'For work', he says. Comes home lookin' really tired... I don't know, I mean I could be overreacting but... I just don't know."

"It sounds like you have good reason to be suspicious."

"How do I find out what he's up to then," she asked.

_How can I keep track of the fastest man on earth?_

**OoOoO**

She had been avoiding the TV because of the news. And she had been ignoring the news because of her father.

The war on Genosha. Yes, he was doing this for good reason. But she had seen those sentinels. She had seen his army. Her father was at a big risk of being killed.

Tonight, she decided to watch the news. She was surprised that her father or something about him wasn't on the news. That surprise soon turned to horror. Apparently, there was a registration act that was passed. All mutants were to report to specially-made clinics to register their information. They had a month to do this, otherwise they would be arrested.

The act had been passed more than three months ago.

* * *

**A/N: **Sorry if I had anybody waiting (or if this of lower quality compared to the previous chapters). The people downstairs are playing their music again, and it's really fucking up my sleep cycle. Even now, as I'm typing this, I can hear their music. Loud and clear.

Wanda's memories... it's a hard one. I don't want her to have them recovered -snap just like that. Her memories are coming back though, just slowly... she's kinda ignoring them though. People ignore things when they don't want to deal with them, they bottle things up. And you what happens to people when they've been contained for too long, don't you? Oh and yes, Victor is Vision. This one wears a hat. To hide his jewel. The words that were carved into the windowsill were from Dido's _"Hunter"_. The words in italics at the beginning of the chapter is from David Byrne and Brian Eno's_ "Strange Overtones"_. Which is also the title and inspiration of this story. Chapter's title is David Usher's _"In This Light"_. Take a listen to all the songs; they're the only songs I can listen to without getting sick of it.


	5. All Good Things

**S t r a n g e O v e r t o n e s**

Chapter Five:All Good Things...

* * *

"_You're at the jubilee,or you're all alone..."_

Wanda was looking at Lance, waiting for a reply. He was sitting on the couch next to her, eyes glazed and staring in the direction of the TV. The TV was off and the house was silent. There was the hope that someone would come downstairs and divert his attention, so they could avoid this conversation and act like nothing was wrong, but that just couldn't be done. This was a conversation they had to have. And it was the type of conversation that they needed to have sooner rather than later. Wanda sighed and looked away, wishing she had her father's strength and smarts to know what to about this.

The sigh must have brought Lance out of his thoughts because he looked over at Wanda a second later. His eyebrows were furrowed and his lips were drawn into a thin line. Wanda wished she could say she knew what was running through his head, be she couldn't. His powers weren't going off, so she knew he wasn't that far gone, but she didn't let the fact that his body was tense escape her either. Wanda rubbed her sweaty palms on her pants and waited for his answer. Lance sighed.

"Bring the others down."

Wanda stood up needing to move and went to retrieve the boys. Lance was sitting on the floor when the boys came down, so they all followed suit and sat down as well, forming a little circle. Wanda proceeded to tell them about what she saw on the news.

"So what're we gonna do?" Toad looked at the rest of them and Wanda had to look away; there was a vulnerability that she saw in Toad that twisted her in painful ways. She kept silent.

"We should probably split up," it was John and everyone turned to the man who seldom spoke.

"Just for now," he continued, "we split into groups and then we wait."

"Wait for what, exactly?" It was Pietro. Wanda frowned; it bothered her to see her father's eyes in brothers. There was a harsh glint to it.

"For this to blow over, I guess."

"And what if it doesn't" Wanda asked, "what if it doesn't blow over. This isn't something that will just go away."

"Then we split up for good."

Wanda gave Lance an incredulous look. He met her gaze with a seemingly unwavering strength before he turned away.

"Why do we have to split up," her voice was low. By their politics, she was indirectly admitting that she would miss them, that she didn't want to lose them; Wanda hesitated then spoke again.

"I'm not going to run away and hide just because some fucking idiot in senate can feel safe," she spat, "father didn't teach me that."

She saw from the corner of her eyes that Pietro was tensing up, going completely still. She knew that he knew that it was the same lessons that her father taught him. He knew that she was right.

"Big groups attract attention, sheila."

"We're not a big group."

"Big enough to get noticed by the government," Lance interjected.

"They have footage of us from before the sentinels, when Magneto kinda just left us there," Pietro added, "They have footage from when Apocalypse came and we fought him. They'd be stupid not to come after us."

"We have less training than the X-Men," John told Wanda, "together, we'd get in each others way. It's too many backs to cover. If we split up, we have a better chance of saving ourselves if we work in pairs."

Wanda looked at all of them, in a way feeling a bit betrayed for being shut down like that. There was logic in John's statement, but to have him describe it in such a militant way bothered her. There was the big chance that none of them would see each other again. She looked at her brother. He was staring back at her with patient eyes. There was a chance that she'd never see her brother again. But they were right. And the risks did outweigh any other argument Wanda had. She ran a hand through her hair and sighed.

"We start looking for other places to live tomorrow. Details can be worked out after that."

**OoOoO**

Wanda sat on her bed, thinking. She thought about the first week after they came home from the events on Apocalypse. The bills weren't paid so they didn't even have lights or pluming. Pietro had snatched food and water for them. Really, Wanda didn't mind, their condition could have been worst, she was sure. But she did see how miserable everybody else was, even Toad couldn't muster a smile.

But they were together through that. Pietro had always come into her Wanda's room at night, and though she couldn't stay up as long as her brother could, she did know that her presence was enough for him and vice versa. When Toad became sick, the Brotherhood household did their best to keep him calm while Pietro looked for a free clinic that would not shut him out because he was a mutant and could give him the best medical attention. They stayed together, the worked well together.

And they wanted to change that?

The fear of being alone started to creep on Wanda. She drew her legs up and hugged them. She didn't want to be alone. She had a family here and she wasn't going to lose that. A slight feeling of panic went through Wanda as she curled deeper into herself. Maybe she was the only one who wanted to stay here. There was a slight irony in this situation. She wanted to leave, she wanted a better life for herself, one without them, to be normal. And here the opening was here, she could leave, get her GED become normal, lead a peaceful life. What is wrong with her?

She heard the door open and though she wasn't looking in that direction, she knew who it was. She heard the click of the door closing, and she felt the bed tip to accommodate the extra weight. She closed her eyes when she felt arms wrap around her. She leaned into the body, trying to draw strength from it.

"Pietro, I don't want us to be separated," she admitted to her twin, "I don't want to be alone."

"It'll be okay, Wanda," he whispered back, "things'll get better."

She took comfort in her brother's voice even though she knew that he was lying.

She figured she would only stay in contact with Pietro during their 'trial separation'. If they separated the rainy day fund evenly, she knew that she'd have enough for a security deposit for an apartment nearby her job. Legally, she had her father's name, so she could use the last name her brother uses.

She didn't go to school, she paid everything in cash, so she was sure that there really wasn't going to be a paper trail. She would have to ask John on that. The man worked with her father, she was sure was trained in that kind of stuff. Wanda shifted, convinced that maybe everything would be okay. Pietro must have been lost in thoughts of his own, because he jolted at her movement before laying his chin on her shoulder.

"You okay?"

"Yeah." Wanda nodded.

"I have to go soon. Work."

Wanda bit her lip before speaking.

"Pietro," she asked, "what do you do for work?"

Pietro tensed and his voice took a slight edge.

"Don't worry about it."

Wanda frowned, "Pietro."

Her brother pulled away and scooted away from her.

"Look, Wanda, what I'm doing right now... the less I tell you, the better off you'll be."

"Pietro..." She raised herself on her knees tried to follow him. Pietro scooted further away and held his hands up, stopping her movements.

"Please, Wanda," he pleaded, "I can't... not right now."

"Then when, Pietro," she asked, "what did you do?"

"Nothing, Wanda," he replied, voice getting louder and higher than pitch. She heard the gust of wind and the door slamming before she registered that her brother was gone.

Wanda slumped on the couch, anger making her powers levitate and animate some of the objects around her. All of her brother's secrets would eventually kill him.

**OoOoO**

There was a thought that the café was going out of business. They were having too many slow days and since that blonde came to do a shift, there really weren't any others aside from Wanda working here and it was starting to make Wanda worry. That was until Victor trusted Wanda well enough to show her information on the money flow. She was glad to be proven wrong, it would suck to be one of those to lose a job because of the recession.

Right now, Wanda was searching for apartments. Victor was sitting next to her, writing in his notebook. She was sure it ideas about that information-seeking tech. Wanda made a mental note to check on that later on. There was an apartments a few blocks from here, and Wanda almost circled the ad before she saw the price. She made a lot here at the café but not enough to pay for that apartment for a month and get things like food and such. Wanda sighed; the apartment was right by the Daily Bugle. No wonder, even the freelancers there were getting paid more than she was. She wouldn't have Lance or Pietro to drop her off for work when she lived on her own, so she would need an apartment she could either walk to work from without feeling drained or had a good bus route from home to work.

Victor look at Wanda and gave her a look of concern.

"Is something wrong, Wanda?"

She debated over telling Victor for a moment, then she nodded.

"I'm planning on moving out of the boarding house," she said, trying her best to keep things vague, "and all of the apartments I've wanted to move into are either too expensive, or too far away."

Victor looked at her for a moment before speaking.

"I own this whole building, Wanda," he said, "and there is a few empty rooms that I don't use. You can live there."

Wanda looked at her boss, eyes wide in surprise.

"Really?"

Victor nodded and gave her a smile.

"You will still be the same amount that you are being paid now," he assured her, "and I've been told before that I'm not that bad of a roommate, so we shouldn't have any problems living together."

Wanda grinned. Victor smiled back. There was a slight hint of suspicion – he could have some hidden agenda – before Wanda buried it. Victor wasn't that type of person. She didn't trust him well enough to tell him that she was a mutant, but she knew that he wasn't some creeper.

"I just have to talk to the guys about it then I can get to you on this."

"Acceptable."

"Thank you."

"Thanks is not necessary."

Wanda shook her head a bit then gave Victor a squeeze on the shoulder before looking for something else to do.

**OoOoO**

They were circled around a table, playing a drinking game. When they were all home, they each announced that they all had a place to go. And it was John who said that they could talk about it the next day; at that moment, he needed the drink. One thing led to another, and they were now playing "I never". It was Wanda's turn.

"I never went to school."

All men drank, none wanting to ask any background info on that. Wanda looked at Lance who stared at his drink.

"I've never been to Disney Land." He shrugged. Freddy and John were the only ones who drank, while the others held in groans, wanting to take a sip from their drinks.

"Really," Pietro asked, looking at Freddy. He was sitting across from the bulky man and next to Lance. Fred smiled.

"Yeah, it was great," Fred answered, "when I worked at the circus, we made a stop there. It was awesome."

"Huh." John blinked.

"Okay," Pietro said, grinning. Wanda noticed with a small amount of irritation that the man wasn't even drunk. Asshole.

"I never... dated a person for longer than three months," he said, raising an eyebrow at Lance. Lance drank from his glass and gave Pietro a cold glare. John drank as well. Wanda raised an eyebrow at John.

"Serious?" The pyromaniac's eyes locked with Wanda's. His eyes were glazed and he had devious smirk on his face. Obviously, he was drunk.

"Hey, sheila," he told her, "I'm quite a catch."

Wanda rolled her eyes and turned away from John to give Toad her attention. John in turn licked his lips and grinned.

"I never had the chance to say goodbye to you guys."

The table was quiet and they all kind of looked down.

"If I say bye now, do I still get to drink?"

Wanda looked at John for a moment then found herself laughing. It was a small laugh but it was enough to make everything calm before it got tense. Pietro held his drink up.

"I'll drink to that."

**OoOoO**

Wanda snuck into her brother's room. At the moment, he was downstairs eating breakfast, so she had plenty of time to go in and check on his stuff. It was clean and organized and she couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. Of course, her brother had to have been smart enough to hide anything bad that he's done. She realized that this was the first time inside her brother's room and she stopped and too the time to take it all in.

It had his scent. Clean, unique Pietro. She snorted at the thought, suddenly reminded of perfume. There wasn't anything on the walls and the there really wasn't anything else personal from his room. There was a big chest sitting against a wall in his room and Wanda assumed that it was where he held his clothes, since there was nothing in his closet. She paused at the closet door before walking closer to better inspect it.

Small carvings, words in Romanian. She trailed her fingertips on the words, wishing she knew what the words meant. There was a small picture. Crows, a lot of crows, surrounding an hourglass. Wanda raised an eyebrow, confused. She pulled her hand away and realized that the carvings were painted over a bit. Wanda frowned then. How long ago had he carved this?

"What're you doing here, Wanda?"

Wanda jumped a bit at his voice, but turned to face him, steel in her gaze. If wanted to find out what he was doing, she had to not let him get away this time, not go used her powers to close and lock the doors before Pietro could run off and then used them to stop him from moving. There was an anger that came from her core that scratched to come out. She embraced that anger, and used it keep herself focused.

"You're hiding something from me, Pietro," she said, hands glowing from her energy. His eyes widened and his body started to shake a bit.

"Wanda, I-can't."

He was shaking his head at her, irritating her further. She took a breath, calming herself.

"The words on the door," she asked, gesturing to the mention door, "the picture... what do they mean?"

Pietro's eyes drifted past Wanda's shoulders to the door. She heard him whisper the words before he turned his gaze to her. Something changed in his eyes, and Wanda knew that she now had no way of scaring him into telling her anything. His eyes grew cold, a bit detached.

"Even an everyman with a kind heart becomes a rabid beast at the sight of that which he does not understand... it's simply human nature. "

* * *

**A/N:** This chapter feels longer than it should be. Maybe I'm being paranoid? D: The title is in reference to _Star Trek: TNG_. It was the very last episode of that show (which I was watching as I was writing this). The part where they were at the table, playing "I never" is sorta-kinda based off of the ep too. The words Pietro say at the end of the chapter is a quote from Magneto himself. Heard it so effin' long ago though. The words in italics are from Perry Farrell's "Song Yet To Be Sung". Love that song.

Okay so yesterday, I was lurking about, trying to find a really good Brotherhood fic. I just finished it and my goodness, you guys if you haven't read _Melting Point_ by The Phantom, you must. It's utterly amazing and there are absolutely no words to describe my utter love for that story. Go, go read it now.

I'm gonna take a slight break from updating this story (a week at the most) so I can prewrite the other chapters and so I can work on _Motivation_. More people are reading that one and like having my ego stroked (lol).


	6. Counting The Change

**S t r a n g e O v e r t o n e s**

Chapter 6: Counting The Change

* * *

"_Fear not for the future, weep not for the past."_

Lance heard the thumping upstairs and he shook his head. Todd and Freddy already left before he woke and right now he was sitting across John. He was waiting for him to finish their breakfast so they could go to the Institute. John had asked to use his car so he could visit Colossus, but Lance didn't trust the man with his baby. So Lance said yes to driving John there and back then to the bus stop. John had planned on staying in New York to hide out before he changed his mind. And now he was moving to Colorado.

Lance heard the clank of a spoon hitting porcelain and he stood up.

"Come on," John said. Lance stared at the bowl.

"We want it to look like we're coming back," John told Lance, moving to grab his arm and lead him out, "come on."

The drive to Xavier's was relatively quiet. The only sound was the sounds of traffic and John playing with his lighter. It was daytime on a weekday, so Lance was positive that nobody but the adults would be there. When they got to the gate of the mansion, it automatically opened (Lance rolled his eyes; that was probably why their shit always got raided). He parked at the entrance and the pair went to knock at the door.

Lance groaned when Scott answered the door. He forgot that he and Jean graduated.

"What're you doing here," Scott asked.

"We need to talk to someone," John answered, his voice light.

"I don't think that anybody here wants to talk to you," he replied, voice cold. He started to close the door but Lance stopped the movement with his foot.

"Look," he said, "he needs to talk to that Russian guy. We won't be long."

"I don't think so," Scott said without hesitation and he moved to close the door, nudging Lance's foot out of the doorway. He almost did until a female voice stopped him.

"Scott, who's that?"

Scott sent a glare at Lance, as if this was his fault before opening it and gesturing over to the two guys standing out side. Jean walked over, expression neutral but her stance was anything but. Lance sighed and shared an aggravated look with John. They both stepped forward and Lance noticed the subtle movement of Scott. He moved forward a bit to slightly block Jean's view. Lance wondered if he even realized that he was doing it.

"Look," Lance said, trying to meet Jean's gaze, "sunshine over there just wants to talk to his friend."

Lance really wasn't looking for a fight right now but he was slowly losing his patience. He was willing to leave any other day and let John go this one alone next time, but this wasn't any other day and there was no next time. They were leaving today and he didn't want to feel guilty about John not being able to say goodbye to his friend. He took a step forward, trying to keep calm. Scott must have seen this as a challenge, because he took a step forward and let one hand touch his glasses.

"You really don't want to do this," Lance warned. He had no problems with burying the idiot right now.

"No," came Jean's voice, "we don't."

She went over to Scott and laid a hand on his chest. Almost immediately, the X-man pulled away.

"He's in the entertainment room," she told Lance, "you still know the way, right?"

"Yeah," he replied, brushing past her. John followed behind with a grin on his face. Silently, Lance thanked Jean, glad to know that somebody could think in this place.

**OoOoO**

"So we're leaving," John finished.

Piotr sat there, looking between both John and Lance before he shook his head, expression sad.

"I will inform the Professor about the registration act," the Russian finally said.

Lance looked over at the two. John glanced back before speaking.

"There's also that thing about Magneto," John said, and his expression went from okay, to worried. Piotr mirrored the expression. He looked at Lance and asked if he could leave for a moment. Lance stood up and shrugged.

"Yeah," he told the two, "I'll be in the car."

He left the room, thinking that the less he knew about Pietro's dad, the better. He was almost out before Jean's voice stopped him.

"Are you guys really leaving?"

He turned his gaze to the redhead and rolled his eyes. As if they cared.

"You're a telepath," he answered, "you would know."

Jean seemed to hesitate before she continued, "You're always welcomed here."

Lance frowned and looked over her shoulder, kind of expecting her boyfriend to just pop out of nowhere. The guy was kind of like a pit bull when it came to Lance.

"Thanks," he said and walked away.

Back then, when he first moved to Bayville, when he first dated Kitty, he really wanted to join them. And he did. And it wasn't just the numerous rules that turned him off from the group, it was also their mentality. They seemed to be in their own little bubble and while they took themselves seriously, they didn't give the Brotherhood the same courtesy.

He frowned as unlocked his car door and slipped in. Then again, Magneto did take the Brotherhood seriously either. He shook his head, started up his car then turned up the radio. It didn't matter anymore; the Brotherhood was no more. He could see John coming out of the mansion, with something of a peaceful smile on his face. At least someone was leaving happy. John popped into the car and Lance drove away.

He tried to ignore the person that was looking at them through the window. It was stupid for those people to feel pity for them now, wasn't it?

**OoOoO**

The two were at the bus stop now. John only had one bag so really there wasn't anything else Lance could do to help him besides wait here with him. It really was the least he could do.

No, they weren't friends, not through his eyes. Lance and John only had a short amount of time together. But Lance could consider them close acquaintances at the very least. There was a feeling of regret for not using the time to get to know the Australian better. But hopefully they'd meet again.

Lance looked over at John and John returned the gaze. Lance gave him a smile, and slowly, the other man returned it. They both raised their heads at the sound of the bus and at the same time they stood up. John put on his backpack and pulled out a bus pass. Lance looked down at his feet, feeling a bit awkward and out of place now. He heard John's short laugh and looked up to see the man holding his arms out. It took Lance a moment of hesitation before going to him and giving the guy a hug goodbye.

"I dunno about you," John whispered as the bus neared, "my stay at that crap building was fun."

They pulled away and Lance gave the guy a bigger smile. He wouldn't worry about him; he was sure that John would be okay.

"So was mine," he replied. The bus stopped in front of them and it's doors opened.

They waited until the people from the inside piled out and John gave Lance a parting smile.

"Tell Wanda I said goodbye, 'kay," John told him as he entered the bus.

"Yeah," he replied, throat closing up a bit. It's doors closed and Lance stood there as the bus drove away.

"Be safe."

**OoOoO**

"Are you sure, man? I mean, I wouldn't mind if you stayed with me."

"No, it's okay."

Pietro and Lance stood there in the living room. Wanda was upstairs packing.

"Did you tell her," Lance asked, "about your job I mean."

Pietro's expression became unreadable before he shook his head.

"The less she knows, the better."

"But you told me."

"Not everything."

Lance sighed, of course he wouldn't. The most that Pietro told him was that Pietro was working for some big time mob people or some shit. Pietro was vague about the details. But as far as he knew, Pietro was doing errands for them. Nothing big.

The two stood there silent for a moment. Then Pietro pulled out two papers and handed them to Lance. Bemused, Lance took them.

"It was from Fred and Toad," Pietro explained, "one for each of us. John has one and those two are for you and Wanda."

Lance flipped the smooth paper and realized that it was picture. Of all of them. Including John. They were all sitting outside in the backyard. It was a birds eye view of them and the only person who wasn't smiling was just Fred because he had a perplexed expression on his face.

"I remember this." Lance smiled.

It was when Toad had snatched a new camera and he was going on about how he wanted to take a picture with all of them in it. Wanda refused to use her powers because the idea was stupid in her mind. John hand pulled her down into her lap and took the camera. While Wanda tried to pull out of his grasp, he tinkered with it. Lance was sitting next to the pair, rolling his eyes but not saying anything. It was the most playful he had ever seen the former Acolyte and he like this one more than the moody quiet Pyro. He told everyone to huddle around and look up at the sky with a big smile. Not having anything else to do, they complied. John had tossed the camera up it took the picture. Just like that, they had their one and only group picture.

Lance was brought back into the now when Pietro coughed.

"Look, I have to go," the speedster said. Lance nodded and muttered out an okay.

The hand on his shoulder made Lance look up. He was met with a smirk and twinkling blue eyes. A hint of the old Pietro for him. Lance grinned back.

"Good luck," Lance said. Pietro laughed.

"Man, luck has nothing to do with it."

There was a gust of wind and the sound of a slammed door and Pietro was gone.

**OoOoO**

Lance met Victor a few times before so seeing the tall man with that baseball cap wasn't much of a surprise for him. He had taken Wanda's only bag and went to put it in her new room, giving the two some time alone to say goodbye.

Lance dug in his pocket and gave Wanda the picture and a cell phone.

"It's one of those Trac phones," he told her, "so use it only when it's necessary. All of our numbers are programmed into it."

Wanda nodded and slipped both the picture and the phone into her pocket. Lance tilted her chin up and for the first time today, Wanda looked Lance directly in his eyes.

"Are you sure," he asked softly, "about this I mean? Living here?"

Wanda gently pulled away and nodded, "I trust him. He's okay. And I know how to reach you."

Lance nodded. He was still skeptical, but she trusted her. That was good enough for him right now.

He pulled Wanda into a hug and relaxed as she hugged him back. He was going to miss her. He was going to miss all of them.

"Stay safe," he whispered, and gave her a kiss on her temple.

They parted a bit and Lance touched his forehead to hers.

"John said goodbye too," Lance whispered.

From the corner of his eye, he could she the shadow of the shop owner. He wasn't moving any closer, but Lance knew his time was running out.

"Mmm-hmm."

"Pietro said bye too," he added.

"Mmm-hmm." But she tensed a bit. Her eyes were closed and she was shaking a bit.

"He's your brother," Lance told her, "your twin. Remember that."

And they pulled away.

Lance passed Victor on the way out. He was about to continue but then he stopped and turned back.

Victor looked as patient as ever, and for some reason, he was reminded of the Professor.

"Look," he started, "just keep her safe, okay."

Victor nodded.

"I will do my best."

"No," Lance said, shaking his head, "you will keep her safe."

The other man's eyes widened a fraction, but then he nodded.

Lance turned away and left the café, wishing her the best.

**OoOoO**

Lance stood in front of the Brotherhood building. He was done with his cigarette now. There was nothing holding him back to here.

There was no more using him as a driver, no more waking up to Pietro when the guy was bored, no more being responsible for keeping Toad and Wanda safe.

There was no more nights of Wanda and him watching late night TV. There was no more mornings of Freddy's cooking and Toad's excited talk. And no more friendly arguments between Pietro, Lance and John.

There was no more Brotherhood.

He gave the building one more look. It was bigger than he remembered, but when he was inside, it was the most crowded place he had ever been in, aside from his home in Ohio.

He wasn't trying to be sentimental, but this was the place that most of his positive memories came from. Where he had his first family. His first long term relationship. Where he learned that he could be both a hero and villain. This was his home.

And he was leaving it.

He wondered what was going to happen to him after all of this. If he would be okay.

Lance sighed and started the car.

"All good things..."

* * *

**A/N:** [EDIT: I decided to end the chapter here. It fits the story better this way, even with some of the loose ends. So, glad you guys read! There may be a sequel, but I'm not quite sure yet.]

This chapter was inspired by Oren Lavie's "Her Morning Elegance." The song and video is just so breathtaking.

The quote is from Percy Bysshe Shelley. Dunno, I thought it worked for this chap.


End file.
